This is horrible news.
Nathaniel Clyne has been ruled out for the next six months, after injuring his cruciate ligaments during the pre-season Tour of America.
The right-back limped off at the end of our 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund and scans have revealed a nasty injury which will likely ruin Clyne’s season and certainly any chance of him earning a transfer away from Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp has offered his support to the player, while explaining that the injury is a ‘straightforward’ one and should enable a long, but uncomplicated recovery.
“What can I say other than how gutted we all are for Clyney,” he told the Evening Standard. “He was training and playing so well – he was in outstanding shape.
“Clearly an injury of this nature isn’t a happy moment for any player, but the silver lining for him is that, according to the medical guys, it’s a straightforward ACL injury. This means fixing it and coming back from it should follow a path that is free from pitfalls and complications.
“At the moment there isn’t much more to say beyond we’ll all support Clyney in whatever way we can and we look forward to seeing him back on the pitch as soon as responsibly possible.
“He is such a sound professional and is naturally very fit and strong, so all these things are in his favour.”
With Clyne injured, Liverpool’s backup options for the right-back spot are lessened.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is obviously an automatic starter, but when the 20-year-old is hurt himself or needs a rest, we now only have centre-back Joe Gomez, midfielder James Milner or wonderkid Ki-Jana Hoever to call upon.
With similarly limited options at left-back behind Andy Robertson, a versatile wing-back who can play on both sides would be a tidy addition before the season begins, but we’ll see what happens on that front over the next week or so.